1527 FUE with Dr. Dorin (Second Transplant)

[dotdashdashdash]

Hey everyone,

I am writing to document another great experience with Dr. Dorin. I had my first FUE with him in March 2021, which I wrote about here.

A couple of notes up top: I want this thread to be as helpful as possible to others considering FUE, because this forum has been so helpful to me. So please ask if there's something you'd like me to share, a photo you'd like me to take, whatever. I tend to feel more at ease when I have LOTS of detail, so I will try to capture everything below. (tl;dr: it was easy, awesome, and I highly recommend Dr. Dorin and his team.)

The basics: 42 years old. Formerly Norwood 3V. 1852 FUE to front in March 2021. Takes 1 mg finasteride per day and applies twice per day. 

The plan: The idea was to do 1500-1700 to the frontal zone, because I have had additional thinning behind the initial transplant, especially on the right side. Trying to be conservative here with grafts, given that I will almost certainly need another procedure down the road.

As you can see from the pictures, I didn't shave the top of my head. What you are seeing mostly in the frontal zone is transplanted hair. So Dr. Dorin felt confident that it was safe to transplant around. He did warn me more than once it is possible that he will cut some hair while he is making the incisions and he did show me one area that was weaker, native hair that I should expect to see some shock loss in. As always, he is very honest and direct and takes a lot of time to make sure you understand.

Morning of procedure: I was very nervous, even though I had an easy and great experience the first time. Barely slept. When I woke up, I got on the hotel treadmill to try to run out some nerves. Then I ate breakfast but not enough. (Not recommended, please eat.) Finally, I washed my head with Hibiclens. I put on a button-up shirt and walked the short distance from the hotel to Dr. Dorin's office in Garden City.

Arrival at office: As soon as I got to the office, my nerves started to cool. Everyone is so friendly at Dr. Dorin's. When I spoke with Jennifer to settle up, I started to feel at ease. Then I met with Lisa who is an angel. She is exactly the type of person you want to see before a procedure if you are nervous. She is so kind and warm and funny. My blood pressure was still through the roof, more than thirty systolic points higher than my physical two weeks prior. But talking with her a little more helped set me at ease. 

Then Dr. Dorin came in, all smiles, talking with me about the plan and making sure I agreed. He gave me a lot of chances to speak up, say no, suggest something different. But what he mapped out was perfect. He shaved my donor site down and then Peter took pictures.

Numbing the donor: After pictures, I expressed to Dr. Dorin I was still feeling nervous, especially about my high blood pressure reading. He told me to take ten minutes and breathe. I put on the headspace meditation app (highly recommended for life and this). When he came back, he took my blood pressure again, which was down roughly ten points. He wasn't concerned and I trust him, so good enough. 

The numbing of the donor was so easy. I know it doesn't seem like it should be easy -- dozens of needle sticks to the back of your head? But it feels more weird than anything, as the numbness spreads and you feel like you are wearing a helmet. Within minutes, all I felt was pressure. 

But once we were halfway through the numbing process, my nerves had totally lifted and I felt excited. My first procedure had completely changed my life. I closed my eyes and played for myself a supercut of amazing times I'd had in the last three-and-a-half years. Times I felt more free and confident and alive. Is it possible that it could get better?

Extractions: This was the longest part of the day, I think. We took several breaks. We started on my left side, then face down, then right side, then face down again. During one of the breaks, Lisa let me look at the grafts under the microscope. It was so cool. Throughout every member of the staff made sure I was comfortable. They asked what I was feeling, if I was cold, what they could do. Ultimately, they got 1527. I think the final count was 320 singles, 882 doubles, 325 triples, but I am not entirely certain.

Numbing the hairline and making the incisions: Before a late lunch, Dr. Dorin numbed the hairline. Let me say once more: please eat in the morning a normal breakfast. Don't be like me. I was starving. 

Here's the deal: the hairline takes far less time to numb, but it is sharper than the back. There was one time in the entire process that I felt like saying "ouch." Totally bearable, it does feel like piercing at times, but way faster than the back. 

Once Dr. Dorin was done with numbing, he made the incisions. That took roughly 35 minutes. Didn't feel anything but heard a lot of crunching. 

Lunch: Dr. Dorin's office is nice enough to provide lunch and you select what you'd like when you check-in. I pretty much inhaled a burger and fries.

PRP: Truthfully, the only thing that hurt all day was the blood draw for the PRP. The entire team is awesome and very nice, but I'm not sure what happened there. Anyway, it was like a minute to do the draw. Then, Dr. Dorin injected the PRP to my helmet-like head.

Implanting the grafts: After the PRP, two of the team members put the grafts in, one on my left, one on my right. I dozed off during this process, so I am not sure how long it took. Maybe an hour and a half. 

At the end of the implantation phase, they explain to you the after care and give you a bag to take with you. It includes something to guard your pillow (last time, my covering looked like a crime scene after the first couple of nights), a sponge to help wash safely the new grafts, and a bottle of Liposomal ATP to spray on the grafts and donor every hour (or half hour). 

As was the case throughout the day, the entire team gave me lots of time to ask questions, asked me if I was okay, and offered me tylenol. I haven't taken tylenol because I don't feel any pain, just numbness.

Checking out: Finally, Peter takes the "after" pictures and, then, Dr. Dorin takes one final look for the day. Again, he answered all of my questions, including my random curiosity questions about the procedure itself. He showed me how to put on a new baseball cap and then I checked out. 

I plan on a morning follow-up tomorrow with Lisa and Dr. Dorin, before checking out of my hotel and heading home.

More tomorrow but first...

Here are some pictures!

 

 

[SeekingStubble]

Looks awesome! I can't wait for my procedure with him next month, even less nervous after reading this. Would you mind posting a pic of the donor area if you have it? 

[dotdashdashdash]

14 minutes ago, SeekingStubble said:

Looks awesome! I can't wait for my procedure with him next month, even less nervous after reading this. Would you mind posting a pic of the donor area if you have it? 

Absolutely! Let me ask Peter to share what he took. The lighting is pretty bad in this hotel room.

What/how much are you having done? It's going to go great. Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

[SeekingStubble]

27 minutes ago, dotdashdashdash said:

Absolutely! Let me ask Peter to share what he took. The lighting is pretty bad in this hotel room.

What/how much are you having done? It's going to go great. Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Oh thanks for asking him for me. I feel like Dorin uses the minimum punch size necessary, his donor areas always look so clean compared to some other more gruesome ones, and heal super fast.

I'm doing 1800-2000 which seems to be what they tend to recommend for a first procedure. I'm a norwood 3-4a so it's not a huge amount, but hopefully given that my hair loss has been fairly stable on its own for a long time and I'm taking min and about to be taking fin for the first time ever (delaying due to an IVF me and the wife are doing right now) I can get some decent coverage overall and maybe have a second one in the near future depending on how I respond to meds etc. 

[gillenator]

dotdashdashdash, how nice of you to present to us your 2nd FUE procedure with Dr. Dorin and the staff @hairlossdoctors…and any of us that have had hair transplant surgery know how the nerves can be on the day of the procedure…yet I have always liked how caring and professional the staff is to communicate with patients, and knowing how to help resolve anxiety, their attention to vitals, especially your BP.

I have always liked Dr. Dorin’s hairline designs and artistic merit, the recipient incisions are precise and clean and the grafts are placed in a natural proximity to each other…I am looking forward to their regrowth and the level of added visual volume that you are going to enjoy.

Congrats my good friend and now you can relax and enjoy the new growth that’s soon coming!

[dotdashdashdash]

Hey guys, I kinda feel like a dope. Should I have posted this in the hair transplant review section? I don't mind moving it all over there.

[baddecisions]

It would be great if you could upload higher quality pictures, otherwise it is difficult to see anything in detail.

[dotdashdashdash]

9 hours ago, baddecisions said:

It would be great if you could upload higher quality pictures, otherwise it is difficult to see anything in detail.

Cool! I'm going to move it over to the hair transplant review section. My bad!

[dotdashdashdash]

I added a shot of the donor above, @SeekingStubble.

[dotdashdashdash]

I added better pictures, @baddecisions. Will try to take better pics as a I document here.

[Melvin- Admin]

I've always been very impressed by Dr. Dorin; he moved offices to Long Island, right? Everything looks super clean. I am impressed he can do no shave. It looks so good.

[dotdashdashdash]

8 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I've always been very impressed by Dr. Dorin; he moved offices to Long Island, right? Everything looks super clean. I am impressed he can do no shave. It looks so good.

Yes, Dr. Dorin is now in Garden City, Long Island. Much of the excellent team from Manhattan moved with him, too. Website here for those interested: www.hairlossdoctors.com.

I think Dorin's new location is even better than Manhattan. There is a hotel that is a four minute walk away from the office, which made getting to and from very easy (as well as the follow-up the next morning).

[Melvin- Admin]

4 minutes ago, dotdashdashdash said:

Yes, Dr. Dorin is now in Garden City, Long Island. Much of the excellent team from Manhattan moved with him, too. Website here for those interested: www.hairlossdoctors.com.

I think Dorin's new location is even better than Manhattan. There is a hotel that is a four minute walk away from the office, which made getting to and from very easy (as well as the follow-up the next morning).

I would imagine he has a lot more space in Long Island. 

[SeekingStubble]

2 hours ago, dotdashdashdash said:

I added a shot of the donor above, @SeekingStubble.

Thank you! Looks super clean. Have you ever done really short fades during the years since your first transplant? Seems like the only thing giving away the old excisions are some little hair gaps that no normal person would notice

[dotdashdashdash]

32 minutes ago, SeekingStubble said:

Thank you! Looks super clean. Have you ever done really short fades during the years since your first transplant? Seems like the only thing giving away the old excisions are some little hair gaps that no normal person would notice

For my first FUE, the donor was healed by the end of the first week. Dr. Dorin tells me that isn't always the case, and other patients of his take 2-3 weeks.

I agree -- no normal person would notice the gaps. I haven't gone too short, though I do feel tempted to do so. Is that what you are hoping to do? 

[Al - Moderator]

13 hours ago, dotdashdashdash said:

Note: I originally posted this in the Hair Restoration Questions and Answers section but moving here for updates.

 

I would have moved it for you. I'm going to try out the merge feature and see what happens. I'll edit it if I have to.

 

EDIT: Done. I think it all came out OK after some editing.

 

[Al - Moderator]

The donor area looks great Dr Dorin always spreads out the extractions very well. 

 

[dotdashdashdash]

40 minutes ago, Al - Moderator said:

 

I would have moved it for you. I'm going to try out the merge feature and see what happens. I'll edit it if I have to.

 

EDIT: Done. I think it all came out OK after some editing.

 

Oh man, thank you!

My mission for today is to figure out how to take the best pics. Going to rewatch some Melvin videos for inspiration haha

[SeekingStubble]

17 hours ago, dotdashdashdash said:

For my first FUE, the donor was healed by the end of the first week. Dr. Dorin tells me that isn't always the case, and other patients of his take 2-3 weeks.

I agree -- no normal person would notice the gaps. I haven't gone too short, though I do feel tempted to do so. Is that what you are hoping to do? 

Yeah I definitely hope to retain the option to go short. Might even get some very light SMP for the gaps but we'll see if it's even necessary since my hair/skin contrast is pretty low. I'm sure I'll enjoy growing it all out sometimes too once it finishes filling in

[dotdashdashdash]

One week update

The first week was better than expected. Sure, sleeping sucks. It's either itching or the sticky feeling from aquaphor onto the pillow to stop the itching. Most nights I couldn't sleep until 4 or even 5. But no swelling, which I was anxious about, and otherwise seems like the numbness and redness is going away faster than my first procedure.

Since I was very anxious about swelling, here's what I did: drank a lot of water every day, ate a low sodium diet, ate lots of blueberries and pineapple, and slept (when I could sleep) at a 45 degree angle with the help of a wedge pillow off Amazon and a travel pillow the first couple of nights. I also iced my forehead every hour starting the day of the surgery through day 3. 

I did my first shampoo on day 7 and got a fistful of hair. Then applied rogaine again and combed my hair gently and had another combful of hair. The same today, too. Definitely lots of shedding. And my hair looks way more thin. I do wonder if I should've gone for a full shave so everything is uniform. Still, I feel pretty confident that this growth phase will be less painful than the previous go round, once these shed hairs and ones cut while making incisions grow back.

I will try to take a pic of my donor in a few. Again I am astonished at how quickly it heals after just one week.

Here's where I'm at on day 8:

Edited August 23 by dotdashdashdash

[BackFromTheBrink]

I'm not familiar with this Drs work. However, the work in your surgery looks exceptionally clean. Im sure it'll yield a great result. Happy growing!

[googlyeyes]

Looking great! Thank you for the comprehensive review. I wanted to pm you about a few questions, but because I've only been lurking on the platform I don't have authorization to send pms. Could you pm me? 

[dotdashdashdash]

18 hours ago, BackFromTheBrink said:

I'm not familiar with this Drs work. However, the work in your surgery looks exceptionally clean. Im sure it'll yield a great result. Happy growing!

Thank you! Dr. Dorin and his team are excellent. I feel very lucky to have had two procedures with them.

[dotdashdashdash]

16 hours ago, googlyeyes said:

Looking great! Thank you for the comprehensive review. I wanted to pm you about a few questions, but because I've only been lurking on the platform I don't have authorization to send pms. Could you pm me? 

Yes! And messaging here to say please anyone with questions send me private messages. Others on this forum have been so generous to me with answering questions, so I want to do the same.

[dotdashdashdash]

One month update

Hey guys, it's been a month since my second FUE. Most if not all of the grafts have shed. I had a lot of shedding of nearby hair, too. But I think it is starting to look okay combed over, though quite see-through unless really flattened.

I didn't have swelling like my first HT, but have a lot of redness. I had that the first time, too, for nearly three months. I've noticed a couple of pimples in the last day; they are visible in the pictures below.

A big difference in this procedure vs the first is that I went into this one with a plan for what to do with myself the first three months — focus on nutrition and working out, some other hobbies, and work. Having plenty of things to do has definitely made the first month go faster than the first time. 

Okay here are some pics today (hair wet except for last pic):